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How to listen to audiobooks on Whispersync for Voice-ready devices

I am sure that you love reading on your Kindle or your other devices using the Kindle App very much. However, even an avid reader such as yourself need to give your eyes a break from time to time, right?

Fortunately, you don’t have to stop reading because you can keep the story going and keep on reading your favorite ebooks with your ears using Whispersync for Voice-ready devices.

It goes without saying that you’ll need both Amazon’s account and Audible Membership to be able to seamlessly switch between reading ebooks and listening to audiobooks.

I am certain that some of you have already experienced and enjoyed the convenience of Whispersync for Voice. And for those of you who are newbies to Amazon’s Whispersync for Voice, this blog post is especially written for you. I would like to have more in-depth discussion on how to listen to audiobooks on Whispersync for Voice-ready devices.

Prior to this blog post, I had received lots of questions about this subject, such as “Which Kindle devices are Whispersync for Voice-ready?”, “How do I listen to audiobooks on X, Y, Z devices?” and so on. So, I have categorized these Whispersync for Voice-ready devices into three categories.

1. Kindle Fire Tablets

If you own a Kindle Fire tablet, then you are set because your Kindle Fire is Whispersync for Voice-ready device. You can find both of your Kindle books and your Audible audiobooks by tapping “Books” and “Audiobooks” on the navigation menu (see image below).

How to switch between reading and listening?

When you are reading a Kindle book, for example Black Beauty by Anna Sewell on your Kindle Fire, tap “Switch to Audiobook” (see image below) and you’ll promptly switch to the Black Beauty’s audiobook.

Pros and Cons:

A Kindle Fire tablet is a two-in-one device to use for switching between reading Kindle books and listening to Audible audiobooks. However, I find deep reading Kindle books on my Kindle Fire or – any other tablet for that matters – is a little bit hard on my eyes.

2. Kindle eReaders

If you own a Kindle eReader such as Kindle Paperwhite or Kindle, then you’ll need an additional (audio) device to switch to. You can use the Audible app for PC, Mac, and mobile apps for iPhone (see image below), Android and Windows Phone.

How to switch between reading and listening?

Just open the Black Beauty’s ebook on your Kindle Paperwhite to read it. If you have been reading this Kindle books on your other devices, it syncs automatically to the furthest page, otherwise you’ll have to sync it manually by tapping “Sync to Furthest Page Read” (see image below).

Download the Audible app and sign in with your Amazon’s credential to switch to the Black Beauty’s audiobook on your device. You’ll also notice that it syncs automatically to the furthest page. Now you can listen to the Black Beauty on your (mobile) device using the Audible app (see image above).

Pros and Cons:

I love deep reading on my Kindle Paperwhite because I can read as long as I want to without eyestrain. And having the Audible app for iPhone enables me to conviently listen to both my audio companions and all of my Audible audiobooks while commuting, doing exercises and traveling.

3. Free Kindle Reading App

If you own neither a Kindle Fire tablet nor a Kindle eReader, then you can use the FREE Kindle Reading App on most of your devices to switch between reading Kindle books and listening to audiobooks.

How to switch between reading and listening?

Obviously you’ll need to download the FREE Kindle Reading App, sign in with your Amazon’s credential and open the Black Beauty’s ebook on your tablet, iPad (see image above), smartphone, Mac or PC to be able to read it.

Tap the headphone icon (see image below) to switch to the Black Beauty’s audio companion within the Free Kindle Reading App. It takes a little while to download the Black Beauty’s audiobook. Once it’s completely downloaded, then you can start listening to the audiobook.

Pros and Cons:

Just like a Kindle Fire tablet, a Free Kindle Reading App on my iPad is a two-in-one device to use for switching between reading Kindle books and listening to audiobooks. However, for the exact same reasons, I find deep reading Kindle books on my iPad is also a little bit hard on my eyes.

2 Responses

One quick comment I noticed you mentioned “It goes without saying that you’ll need both Amazon’s account and Audible MembershipAudible Free Trial [Digital Membership] to be able to seamlessly switch between reading ebooks and listening to audiobooks.”

— this isn’t completely true! You can actually read and listen to a book in your Kindle app since now the app has an audio player as well (you don’t need an Audible membership!)

Thanks for your comment. This blog post provides options for listening to audiobooks on Whispersync for Voice-ready devices. One of the options is to using Audible App (see point 2 of the blog post) and therefore you’ll need an Audible Membership. It doesn’t have to be a paid Audible membership.

I cancelled mine during my trial period back in May 2012 but I am still able to use my FREE Audible membership to buy free audiobooks both on Audible.com and Amazon.com (which is fully synced with Audible).

And yes, you can actually read and listen to a book on your Apple, Android or Windows devices using the Kindle App (see point 3 of the blog post) but you’ll obviously have to purchase the audiobook first.

Currently, you are unable to purchase audiobooks right on the Kindle App (not that I know of). So, either you go to Amazon.com and purchase it using your Amazon account (which is fully synced with Audible) or you go to Audible.com and purchase it using your Audible account – with or without your paid membership.